In a conventional power semiconductor circuit which is disclosed in EP 0 901 166 A1, a power semiconductor module is constructed using conventional technology by connecting one or more individual power semiconductor elements (also referred to below as power semiconductors), for example IGBTs, to the top side of an aluminum nitride substrate via a solder layer and a metalization. The underside of the substrate is connected to a cooling device in the form of a ribbed heat sink. The module comprises a plurality of such substrates which are combined in a common housing.
The power semiconductor module is externally connected, by means of a screw connection, to so-called busbars which are used to pass the currents to and from the module, the busbars also being able to run at right angles through a plurality of modules.
A new trend in module configuration is heading in the direction of flat module geometries using lamination methods as are described, for example, in the article “A High Performance Polymer Thin Film Power Electronics Packaging Technology” by Ray Fillion et al. in Advancing Microelectronics, September/October 2003.
By way of example, a substrate having a component which has a contact area can thus be provided in order to produce such a module. In this case, low-inductance contact-connection is realized by bringing the contact area together with a pad which is formed on a relatively thin film. The contact area and pad are brought together by laminating the film in a vacuum press under isostatic pressure.